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* * * PUBLIC NOTICE * * * 

SIERRA PACIFIC INDUSTRIES-ANDERSON DIVISION 

ANNOUNCEMENT OF FINAL PERMIT DECISION OF A 

CLEAN AIR ACT PREVENTION OF SIGNIFICANT DETERIORATION PERMIT 

THAT REGULATES THE EMISSION OF AIR POLLUTANTS 

PERMIT APPLICATION NO. SAC 12-01 

Final Agency Action and Project Description: On April 25, 2014, the United States 

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 9 issued its final decision to grant conditional 

approval, in accordance with the Clean Air Act Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) 

regulations (40 CFR 52.21), to Sierra Pacific Industries-Anderson Division (SPI or SPIAnderson) to construct and operate a new cogeneration unit and ancillary equipment at its 

existing lumber manufacturing facility in Anderson, California. The project consists of a new 

biomass-fired cogeneration unit, including a 468 MMBtu/hr stoker boiler, capable of generating 

31 megawatts (MW) of gross electrical output, a 256 horsepower (hp) natural gas-fired 

emergency engine, and a three-cell cooling tower. 

The SPI-Anderson facility is located at 19758 Riverside Avenue, Anderson, California 96007 

(Assessor’s Parcel No. 050-110-025). The site is approximately 0.5 mile west of Interstate 5, 

and approximately 2 miles north of the City of Anderson. The facility is bordered on the 

northeast by the Sacramento River, on the northwest by a private parcel, on the southwest by 

Union Pacific Railroad tracks and State Route (SR) 273 and on the southeast by private parcels. 

The mailing address for SPI-Anderson is P.O. Box 496028, Redding, CA 96049-6028. 

Equipment currently located at this location includes a cogeneration unit consisting of a 116.4 

MMBtu/hr stoker boiler and associated equipment capable of producing 4 MW of gross 

electrical output, for which the Shasta County Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) 

issued a PSD permit (Permit No. 94-PO-18) on June 15, 1995. 

PSD Permit No. SAC 12-01 became effective on June 6, 2014. Pursuant to section 307(b)(1) of 

the Clean Air Act, 42 U.S.C. § 7607(b)(1), judicial review of this final permit decision, to the 

extent it is available, may be sought by filing a petition for review in the United States Court of 

Appeals for the Ninth Circuit within 60 days of publication of notice of this final permit 

decision in the Federal Register. 

Background Information: On March 3, 2003, EPA withdrew the PSD delegation from several 

permitting authorities in Region 9, including SCAMQD, making EPA the PSD permitting 

authority for Shasta County. See 68 FR 19371. 

In March 2010, SPI submitted a PSD application to EPA for an approval to construct and operate 

a new cogeneration unit and ancillary equipment, including a 468 MMBtu/hr stoker boiler, at its 

Anderson facility. The new cogeneration unit would be capable of producing 31 MW of grow 

electrical output. This change to the facility is a PSD major modification under the Clean Air 

Act and EPA’s PSD regulations at 40 CFR 52.21. On September 13, 2012, EPA Region 9 
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proposed to issue a PSD permit modification for the new cogeneration unit and ancillary 

equipment for nitrogen oxides (NOx), carbon monoxide (CO), particulate matter (PM), PM less 

than 10 microns in diameter (PM10), and PM less than 2.5 microns in diameter (PM2.5). We 

accepted comments on the PSD permit proposal from September 13, 2012 through October 17, 

2012. On February 19, 2013, after consideration of the public comments received, EPA Region 

9 issued the final PSD permit in accordance with 40 CFR 124.19 and explained that it would be 

effective in 30 days unless our action was appealed to the EPA’s Environmental Appeals Board 

(EAB). Within that 30 day time frame, various parties filed appeals with the EAB, which 

suspended the permit’s effective date. 

On July 18, 2013, the EAB remanded the permit to EPA Region 9 in part. The EAB directed 

EPA Region 9 to reopen the permit proceedings to hold a public hearing, issue a final permit 

decision and respond to any new comments received during the hearing. See In re Sierra Pacific 

Industries (Anderson Processing Facility), PSD Appeal Nos. 13-01 to 13-04, slip op. at 67 (EAB 

July 18, 2013). 

Following these events, we have revised the PSD permit by including GHG emission limits and 

related requirements, as requested in a PSD application provided by SPI to EPA Region 9 in 

August 2013, and subsequent supplemental materials provided thereafter. SPI submitted these 

application materials due to the uncertainty of issuance of the mandate for the Court of Appeals 

for the Circuit for the District of Columbia decision issued on July 12, 2013 vacating EPA’s 

regulation deferring from the PSD requirements the carbon dioxide emissions resulting from the 

combustion of certain biological materials, including materials such as wood, wood waste, forest 

residue, and agricultural material. See, Ctr. for Biological Diversity v. EPA, 722 F.3d 401 (D.C. 

Cir. 2013). We have also taken this opportunity to revise certain other conditions (primarily 

related to monitoring, performance testing, and recordkeeping) in the PSD permit to address 

minor technical issues we identified since February 2013. We provided notice of public 

comment of the proposed PSD permit and a public hearing per 40 CFR 124 on November 8, 

2013. In response to the EAB remand, we held a public hearing on December 10, 2013. We 

accepted public comments on the proposed PSD permit from November 8, 2013 until January 

10, 2014. 

On April 25, 2014, we issued the final PSD permit, our responses to public comments, and other 

key documents relevant to the final PSD permit. In our correspondence and notifications 

regarding the final PSD permit, we stated that the final permit decision will become effective 30 

days after the service of notice of the decision unless our decision is appealed to the EAB 

pursuant to 40 CFR 124.19. Three petitions were submitted to the EAB. On June 5, 2014, the 

EAB dismissed these petitions for review of the final PSD permit decision for lack of 

jurisdiction. 

As EPA Region 9 has completed the remand proceedings in response to the EAB’s Order, we are 

now issuing our final permit decision granting a PSD permit to SPI for the SPI-Anderson facility, 

PSD Permit No. SAC 12-01. All conditions of PSD Permit No. SAC 12-01, as issued by 

EPA Region 9 on April 25, 2014 is final and effective on June 6, 2014. 
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Additional Information: Key portions of the Administrative Record for this decision (including 

the final permit, all public comments, EPA’s responses to the public comments, and additional 

supporting information) are available through a link at our website, 

www.epa.gov/region09/air/permit/r9-permits-issued.html#psd, or at www.regulations.gov 

(Docket ID # EPA-R09-OAR-2012-0634). 

Hard copies of the final permit and EPA’s responses to the public comments, and the 

Administrative Record for this action, may also be viewed in person, Monday through Friday 

from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM, at the EPA Region 9 address below. Due to building security 

procedures, please call Shaheerah Kelly at (415) 947-4156 to arrange a visit at least 72 hours in 

advance. Hard copies of the final permit and EPA’s responses to the public comments are 

available upon request at the following: 

E-mail: R9airpermits@epa.gov

U.S. Mail: Shaheerah Kelly (AIR-3) 

U.S. EPA Region 9 

75 Hawthorne Street 

San Francisco, CA 94105-3901 

Phone: (415) 947-4156 

The contact information above may also be used to request copies of other portions of the 

administrative record for this action. 

Please bring the foregoing notice to the attention of all persons who would be interested in this 

matter. 

*** END OF ANNOUNCEMENT *** 

Issued June 6, 2014